But I would have it understood of faith in general, and of the trial and fruits of it, that, if thou believest in Christ, then Christ must certainly live in thee by faith, or thine will prove but an empty, naked profession. If thou believest that Christ suffered death for thy sins, thou must also die with him to the same (Gal. 2:20), and renounce the world, with all its pride and avarice. Rom. 6:2. If this effect do not follow, then truly thou believest not in Christ. If thou believest that Christ was crucified for the sins of the world, _thou_ must with him be crucified to the same. If thou refusest to comply with this, thou canst not be a living member of Christ, nor be united with him by faith. If thou believest that Christ is risen from the dead, it is thy duty to rise spiritually with him, and firmly adhere to him, thy Head and Saviour. In a word, the birth, cross, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, must, after a spiritual manner, be transacted in thee. And this is the blessed effect of faith, and the influence it has on believing souls. Wherever this effect is wanting, there is nothing but a lifeless image of faith, with which men miserably deceive themselves. So if thou believest in the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit in whom thou believest, must of necessity dwell and reign in thy heart, and enlighten and sanctify it. For, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14. 6. Therefore, dear Christian! let not your religion be confined to bare externals, but see that it proceed from the more inward recesses of a heart endued with a true, living, and active faith, and with an unfeigned, inward, and daily repentance. If you put away from you this inward life, this faith, and this repentance, you strip your religion of all essential goodness, and, instead of a living principle, which ought to be established in the mind, you carry about an empty, insignificant name, which will avail you nothing in that day, wherein God will judge all things according to the inward frame of the heart. But if you are truly affected with a sense of your inward wants and impurities, then flee without delay to the healing fountain of grace! Draw and drink, pray and knock, seek and cry, “Lord, have mercy upon me!” Then your heart shall be cured, your sin covered, and your transgression cancelled. Chapter V. Showing That The Evidence Of True Christianity Does Not Consist In The Knowledge And The Hearing Of God’s Word, But That He Is A Christian, In Whose Life God’s Word Is Manifested, And Who Beseeches God In Sincerity That This Word, As A Divine Seed, May Be Quickened In Him, And Bear Fruit. _The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth._—ROM. 1:16.